>> well, i think you have people, thoughtful members like my old bass, senator dick durbin, saying that everything is on the table but without being specific about it, because they'll do that behind closed doors as they should, frankly. so, yes, i think the left has a tacit sort of acknowledgment that, yes, in fact, there are going to be some painful things that we have to swallow on the left-hand side of the aisle. we should. if the right's going to separate increases, we should accept certain things like testing, et cetera, because at the end of the day this is about compromise. this is also very much, thomas, about the president's ability to show leadership. you hear the republicans harp on and on about obama not showing leadership. they did it before the campaign, during the campaign, and now they're saying, mr. president, we need you to show some leadership. accept tax rate increases without forcing his own party to accept other things on our side. both sides have to share the pain to get the budget balanced and promote this theory of economic fairness. that's what he's doing out t